The Canadian Scene

Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians

For two full days in July, Queen’s Park was abuzz with women working. Women members from legislatures across Canada convened in Toronto for the annual Canadian Regional Conference of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians. Together, we discussed some of the specific challenges we face as parliamentarians, reasons why we still don’t have gender parity in most parliaments, and barriers that prevent women from running for, and getting elected to, office.

Members shared their experiences with harassment (both online and in person), challenges finding childcare that can accommodate the strange and unpredictable hours that legislatures sit, the difficulty in leaving family at home when needing to head to the capital, and (still!) generalised mistreatment at the hands of both male and female colleagues in legislatures across the country.

But the conference also allowed us to share what is working for women too: codes of conduct for legislatures, legislative calendars, onsite childcare, and more. The takeaway for everyone was that change is possible, and is happening, and we need to encourage our legislatures to take on some of the heavy work of allyship to make sure women feel their rightful place is in the houses into which they are elected.

There was also much focus on how to attract more women to politics, and it was decided that the CWP will put some resources behind a guide designed to bring young women into legislatures so they can experience something of what it might be like to be a sitting member. Twinning Projects, where young women are twinned with sitting women, have been successful in BC, Quebec, and PEI, and many other provinces and territories are eager to put on similar programs. If young women can see mentors working in parliaments, and making their lives work with all the challenges, they will be more likely to put their own names on a ballot.

Perhaps the most inspiring part of the conference was hearing from women who are not in politics; the discussion was a clear and poignant reminder of why it matters that there are women in the legislatures in the first place. We heard from Keri Gray, an entrepreneur whose rabbit products were developed to feed her child, and eventually evolved into a farm and pet- treat company that hires Indigenous youth from Keri’s reserve. We heard from Margaret Evans who is a producer at Balancing Act which brings focus to the issue of compassionate budgeting, and we heard from Manavi Handa, a practising midwife and professor of midwifery who is advocating for health coverage for newcomers who are pregnant and often don’t seek the care they should because of the costs.

These issues are important for everyone, but they are often championed in parliaments by elected women who bring them to the forefront. When we have more women parliamentarians, our collective voices can ensure issues that affect 51% of the population of Canada are squarely addressed.

As chair of the CWP, I look forward to continuing work by the CWP steering committee and our chapters across Canada throughout the year. We will be checking on the progress made in women running and getting elected at our next gathering in Quebec City in 2025.

Susan Leblanc

Chair, CWP Canadian Section

60th CPA Canadian Regional Conference

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario welcomed approximately 80 delegates and additional accompanying persons to Toronto for the 60th Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association Canadian Regional Conference from July 22-26, 2024.

Conference attendees lauded organizers and hosts Speaker Ted Arnott and Clerk Trevor Day for creating an interesting program and a very enjoyable week in Ontario’s capital.

Following an opening prayer and song by Marie Gaudet of Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Speaker Arnott introduced Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont to offer remarks.

Over the course of eight business sessions, delegates discussed a variety of issues relating to gender equity among parliamentarians, governance and workplace culture, and the role of the media and artificial intelligence (AI) in our society and parliaments.

In the first session of the conference on July 22, Ontario MPP Lucille Collard, introduced National Assembly President Nathalie Roy to speak about various ideas for bringing more women into parliaments. Speaker Roy noted that Quebec had effectively achieved parity in its Assembly after prioritizing family-friendly infrastructure and policies, such as a daycare, change tables in washrooms, and altered work hours which eliminated barriers parents of younger children face. In subsequent discussions, delegates noted and debated policies such as quotas, gender neutral recognition of Members, and campaign schools for women.

Prior to the second session, CPA Secretary- General Stephen Twigg shared a message from CPA Headquarters. Mr. Twigg noted that long-term plans for the United Kingdom’s Parliament to pass legislation giving the CPA special status similar to other international organizations were close to being realized. The legislation to provide this status was mentioned in the government’s legislative programme in the King’s Speech and would therefore be part of a government bill.

During the second session, MP Alexandra Mendès welcomed Avni Kondhia, Programmes Manager for the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities and Youth Engagement Coordinator at CPA Headquarters, and Alberta Clerk Shannon Dean. Ms. Kondhia spoke about the CPA’s recommended benchmarks for democratic legislatures. Initially developed in 2006, 132 indicators help measure whether an Assembly operates fairly and effectively. Benchmarks are organized in categories relating to elections, privileges and immunities, and procedures, among others.

Ms. Dean, who was among the observers in Cayman Islands during that jurisdiction’s supported self-assessment, described how she and other CPA representatives conducted research for an assessment and evaluation that resulted in 17 recommendations to help reach certain benchmarks. Delegates to the Canadian Regional Meeting were then tasked with filling out a questionnaire to determine which benchmarks their home jurisdictions have met or have yet to reach.

Nova Scotia MLA Danielle Barkhouse chaired the third session on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Mace Tour, 2024, featuring Speaker Derek Bennett and Clerk Kim Hawley George. An article based on their presentation appears elsewhere in this issue.

On the morning of July 24, Speaker Randy Weekes introduced former MPP Janet Ecker to discuss AI in the Legislature in the conference’s fourth session. Ms. Ecker noted the positive and negative ways AI has changed legislative work in the past few years. She suggested that the window to exploit Canada’s pioneering role in developing this technology into a major industry is closing and competition from other countries is intense.

In a fifth session, Northwest Territories Speaker Shane Thompson invited BC Speaker Raj Chohan and BC Clerk Kate Ryan-Lloyd to discuss changes they have made in their Assembly to foster a healthy and inclusive workplace culture. The presenters outlined numerous steps which varied from employing recommendations for step towards reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, to changing Standing Orders to permanently allow participation by MLAs in proceedings through videoconferencing under specific circumstances, to providing ongoing orientation and guidance for newly elected MLAs as as examples of responding to the diverse needs of parliamentarians and staff.

The final session of the day featured Senator Andrew Cardozo chairing a panel discussion on how the crisis in the news media affects our democracy. Karim Bardessy, the Director of the Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University, Andrea Mariko Grant, researcher director at the Samara Centre for Democracy, and Anita Li, the founder and editor-in-chief of the Green Line all noted that the media landscape has changed dramatically in the past few decades. Unlike the days when we all read the cover of daily newspapers or heard/watched similarly produced nightly newscasts, as a society we no longer get our news and information from the same major shared sources. A splintered audience, the growth of misinformation and disinformation on the Internet, and the decline of local news does not portend well for democratic health and the public’s ability to monitoring our governments and hold them to account. However, the growth of new media has the potential to fill this void.

On July 26, in the seventh session, BC MLA Jackie Tegart welcomed Kate Graham, an assistant professor at Huron University College to discuss her podcast project. “No Second Chances” interviewed all the women who have served as first ministers in Canada (and/or their families) about the role their gender played in how they were received and treated by the electorate. Although some of these leaders were popular for a time, no woman first minister has ever been re-elected and many of them shared examples of gendered attacks and battles over their perceived ‘likability’ with an electorate.

The final session of the conference, chaired by Alberta Speaker Nathan Cooper, saw each Speaker, Clerk or another designated delegate from Canada’s jurisdictions report on updates within their parliaments during the past year.

As organizers distributed “Save the Date” cards for next year’s conference in Quebec City from July 19-26, 2025, attendees expressed their gratitude to Ontario for running a highly successful event this year.

Will Stos

Editor, Canadian Parliamentary Review